Browse Tsumo
Shona Definition
Nguva yenjodzi kana yasvika zvinoita sezvinonzi yanga yakagadzirirwa nechakare. Nerumwe rutivizve, kana zuva rokuti munhu afe risina kusvika munhu wacho haafi, anogona kupunyuka achibuda nepaburi retsono.
English Translation
What is doomed walks straight into its own end, like the ant that went to the night-jar's young; yet if a person's time has not come he can slip out through the eye of a needle.
Cultural Context
“Hunters see it borne out when some game runs straight into the dogs while other animals get away after a long chase.”
Entries are reviewed by language experts. Thank you for your contribution to Shona literature.
This is a variant of
Chinoda kufa chinovingira / gonzo rakapona norukungiso rwomweniWhatever is doomed appears to head straight towards its death; the rat, though, was saved by a visitor's bowstring. Death comes to those whose time it is, while chance intervention can spare another.